The Weather of the Heart
by x.keepingthemoon.x
Summary: Arthur takes Merlin on an all-day 'hunting' trip.


Twigs snapped beneath Merlin's feet as he pushed his way through the branches. Sweat was forming on his brow from the humidity of the mid-afternoon sun and he could feel his patience dripping away with it.

"Seriously, Arthur. How much further do we have to go?" He swatted crankily at a fly that was buzzing annoyingly around his face.

He could almost see the smirk forming on Arthur's face before he even spoke.

"Honestly, _Mer_lin. You would think that after being my servant for this long you would be used to the long hunting trips by now." He looked over his shoulder and Merlin rolled his eyes upon seeing the smirk that he had predicted. "You're not a very good manservant, you know."

He turned back straight again, purposefully letting go of the branch he had been holding so that it hit Merlin in the face.

Merlin glared at his retreating back. It was a good thing he loved Arthur so much or he probably would have killed him months ago, prince or not.

Grumbling under his breath, he jogged a few steps to catch up so that he was walking beside Arthur.

"Really, though. We've been at this for – " he glanced at the sun " – almost five hours now and you haven't caught a single thing. You're not even _trying_ to catch anything."

Arthur scoffed. "Don't be ridiculous, Merlin. Of course I'm trying. I almost caught that rabbit a couple of miles back."

Merlin rolled his eyes exasperatedly. "Uh, _no_, you didn't. You said 'Oh, look, there's a rabbit' and you kept walking. You didn't even draw your sword or get an arrow!"

"Well it was cute." Arthur shrugged. "I graciously allowed it to live."

"I would use many words to describe you but 'gracious' certainly wouldn't be one of them."

The blond came to a stop and slipped an arm around Merlin's waist, pulling them together. Merlin grunted as he fell into the side of Arthur's body. "Now, now, Merlin. This is no time to get snotty."

Merlin grinned at him and shoved him away. Glancing up, he looked at the dense forest around them. "Where are we going, anyway? We never go this far to go hunting."

"Really, _Mer_lin. Your sense of direction is terrible. We're really only a few miles from the citadel."

"What, have we been walking in circles?"

"Pretty much."

He looked at Arthur in desperation. "Why?"

"I had to buy myself some time."

"What are you talking about?"

Arthur waved it off. "Doesn't matter, Merlin. Not much further to go now."

Merlin just sighed and followed after his prince again, wondering how he could ever fondly love someone so infuriating.

Much to his surprise, it was only a further fifteen or twenty minutes before Arthur turned around and instructed him to close his eyes.

"What? No. Why?"

Arthur rolled his eyes. "Just do it."

Merlin looked at him suspiciously for a long moment before doing as he was told.

Arthur grinned at Merlin even though he knew the other boy could not see it. He hadn't thought his plan would be this easy to pull off. Sure, there had been a bit of planning involved, but Arthur knew that Merlin would follow him anywhere he asked. While usually that concerned him, right now he loved him for that.

"Alright." Arthur stood behind Merlin with his hand over the others eyes and started walking him forward. "Keep them closed."

"They're closed!"

The prince grinned, walking around a large tree and seeing the picnic blanket still intact, the hopefully-still-full basket perched on top of it.

"Ok." He removed his hand from over Merlin's eyes and whispered in his ear. "Open."

Merlin's eyes opened and he took in the sight before him.

"Arthur," he breathed. "You didn't have to do this."

Arthur smiled and wrapped his arms around Merlin's waist, still standing behind him. "I know I didn't. But I wanted to." He placed a kiss on the side of Merlin's neck.

Merlin smiled, his eyes clouding with emotion. "I wasn't sure whether you'd remember or not."

"How could I not remember being with you for exactly six months? It's been the best time of my life."

Merlin twisted around in Arthur's arms and leaned in to kiss him, Merlin thinking – as corny as it sounded – that their lips fit together like a hand in a glove. Like two parts of the same puzzle.

"I love you, you know that right?"

Arthur smiled, brushing his nose against Merlin's. "I do. I love you too."

"So was this the point of the whole hunting trip? This is why you didn't want to catch anything?"

"Ah ha, my master plan succeeded. Getting you out into the woods and seducing you."

Merlin rolled his eyes and Arthur chuckled. "Prat."

"Fine, sorry. Yes, this is why we went 'hunting' all day."

"Alright." Merlin nodded. "And how did you get away from your father's grasp for the whole day?"

Arthur smiled. "He told me to ride out to Ailich and visit Princess Rosalind for the day. Hence the need to buy time walking around the woods. It's a few hours journey there."

Merlin looked at him disapprovingly. "Arthur, your father is not going to be happy when he learns you disobeyed him."

"It doesn't matter."

"Yes it does." Merlin tugged on his sleeve. "I don't want you to get in trouble over me."

"Stop worrying, Merlin." Arthur put his hands on Merlin's waist and pulled him in to him. "You're worth it."

"Well Uther will find out next time he's speaking to King Alfleur and he knows nothing of your visit!"

"Eh, I'll just say the weather was too good to not go hunting."

Merlin looked at him sceptically.

Arthur laughed, sitting down on the blanket and pulling Merlin down with him. Merlin put his hand on the ground behind Arthur to support himself and Arthur wrapped his arm around his waist.

"And how do _I_ fit into this? How'd you get me off castle chores for the day?" A thought seemed to come to Merlin and he looked at Arthur accusingly. "You _did _tell him I was going, didn't you? You better not get me thrown in the stocks again for neglecting to do my job."

Arthur laughed and shook his head. "You are so paranoid. Of course I said you were coming; someone's got to tend to the horses."

Satisfied with this, Merlin nodded. It went quiet for a moment before he looked over at Arthur. "You didn't have to do this, you know."

"I know." Arthur smiled. "I wanted to. I want you to know how much you mean to me. I know that sooner or later Father will expect me to marry, and I need for you to understand that I'm not just going to throw away what we have, Merlin. Everything will hit the roof when he does find out and maybe he'll even disinherit me and make my cousin heir to the throne." He looked into Merlin's eyes. "But I don't care. You mean the world to me and I never want to let you go. I love you, Merlin."

Merlin smiled and Arthur leaned in, placing his lips gently on Merlin's and putting his spare hand on his waist.

Merlin smiled against Arthur's lips and leaned back slightly. "Thank you, Arthur. I love you too."

The prince rubbed his hand down Merlin's arm and straightened up, pulling the picnic basket closer and pulling out the contents.

"Right, what do you want to start with?"

Later, on dusk, Arthur would pull Merlin backwards so they were on their backs watching the sun go down, Merlin using Arthur's arm as a pillow. And it would be after dark when they would scurry to pack everything up, knowing Uther would already be concerned something had happened to his only son, and they would hurry back through the woods; hands clasped together, side by side.


End file.
